loml

nine

"Hi Mommy!" Poppy waved excitedly at me when she saw me waiting by the gate after school.

"Hi munchkin!" I smiled, crouching down as she ran up to me and threw herself into my arms. My heart lighting up, I picked up my daughter and hugged her close, relaxing a little. It had been a long day at the police station, and it felt so nice to have her in my arms again. "How was school?" I asked her as I propped her on my hip.

"Good, I learnt more of my lines for the play." Poppy told me. "Where's Daddy?"

"Trying to find a park, it's busy." I kissed her forehead. "Let's go find him huh?"

Poppy told me all about the new lines she'd learnt for the play her class was putting on soon; she was really excited about it. She was a natural on stage, just like I'd used to be. She'd landed the lead role and was always practicing around the house. I was really excited for her, glad she was finding passion so early on in her life.

Travis spent the afternoon with Poppy since she had a lot of energy and I was too mentally drained to do much. I wasted the hours away curled up on the couch staring out at the back garden, watching Poppy and Travis as they played soccer together. It was a comforting sight, making me feel like I wasn't so alone. Everything seemed to hurt, but watching them made it go away a little. 

I declined dinner when Travis offered me a plate, telling him I'd eaten when they were outside. I just remained on the couch, not feeling like I was able to get up. Travis took Poppy through the evening before putting her to bed, and once he was done, he went around the house and closed the curtains. When he was done with that, Travis came to sit on the couch next to my head. 

"You not hungry?" He asked.

"I told you I already ate." I mumbled.

"I know you're lying, I just didn't want to say it in front of Poppy." Travis sighed, stroking my hair gently. "Don't stop eating T, don't ruin yourself over what he did to you. If you let it take over, he wins." He paused, rubbing his fingers against my cheek. "Poppy's worried about you. I'm worried about you."

"I'm fine Travis."

"No you're not. You got fucking assaulted." Travis told me. "I know you're not fine T, and Poppy's asleep, so you can talk to me now. Let it all out like we used to talk."

Like we used to talk. 

We used to talk for hours late into the night about anything and everything, spilling our hearts out. No secrets, no holding back, nothing that we couldn't share with each other. There was nothing we hadn't told each other.

"What about you?" I looked up. "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" Travis frowned at me. 

"Well I mean, no one likes a breakup, even if you've only been dating for a few days."

"How do you know Liv and I broke up?"

I fell silent, realizing my mistake. Travis had thought I was asleep when they'd broken up, and now he knew I'd been faking it. Which was even worse than whatever the other outcomes of this situation could have been. Travis stared down at me as I went red, pressing my lips together as I tried to think of a good explanation for this. Shit, could I make this any worse?

"I..." I stammered. "I just...I thought..." Great Taylor, this was going amazing. "I didn't want to interrupt." I said weakly. 

"Right." Travis sighed, shaking his head as he looked away. "Yeah, that was a mess. I guess I couldn't blame her. You are my ex-wife, and you were completely naked in my arms." I nodded, trying to think about what to say next. This was awful, awkward. "Liv was right you know." Travis eventually said. "If you ever told me you wanted to try again, I'd say yes."